


Plant Life

by howtobeahumanbeing



Series: Simon [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: But Markus is here this time, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Light Angst, M/M, Original Character(s), Simon is still a sad boy, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-06-18 17:31:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15491007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/howtobeahumanbeing/pseuds/howtobeahumanbeing
Summary: Simon came to a lot of realisations while his life was in danger and he was terribly injured. One being that he was completely, irrevocably, undeniably in love with Markus. He closed his eyes tightly and pointed his gun to the only opening of the crate he was hiding in, a memory of beautiful, mismatched eyes dancing behind his eyelids.RA9 save him...--The sequel to 'Simon'.





	1. Warm Light on a Cold Soul

“Simon?”

Simon’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the light as he came out of sleep mode. He was lying on his back, on the second-most level of the freighter. A large hole had been ripped through the rusted metal of the roof, exposing the deck and allowing the setting sun’s rays to pour in and coat his surroundings in orange, the stiff sheet of metal groaning slightly in the breeze. Simon thought it was the nicest place on the ship – there was something ethereal about bathing in sunlight in a place that was usually so dark, even if he wasn’t necessarily able to enjoy the warmth.

He looked over out of the glare to see who had called him. Josh was standing there, arms crossed. He didn’t look upset, necessarily, just tired. And an android couldn’t be physically tired, only emotionally. Simon pulled himself up from his spot on the smooth floor and twisted his body around to face the other android, who gave him a smile.

“I was just wondering where you were,” Josh said, sitting down cross-legged in the edge of the sunlight. It created blocky shadows on his face in interesting shapes as the boat dipped up and down in the water almost imperceptibly to the androids who had lived on it for so long. “I didn’t know this was even here.”

“I think it’s nice,” Simon replied, playing with the hem of his sweatshirt. Sometimes, he’d catch Josh staring blankly at the white, faded letters. _‘Detroit University’_. It wasn’t hard to figure out that it made Josh think about his past. Simon wished he had the nerve to ask him about it, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t have questions. There was, however, the glaring chance that such questions would make Josh uncomfortable. “I come here to think.”

He realised Josh had a bag strapped to his back. When Josh noticed Simon’s eyes on it, he smiled and pulled it off, messing with the straps to get it open. It was made of leather, with a small patch of blue fabric sewn on to cover a hole. Simon wondered where he’d found it.

“Markus took me out today,” Josh explained, and laughed at Simon’s worried expression. “Not far, don’t worry. We got these for you. He said you’d like them.”

He pulled out a milk carton and a plastic water bottle – both were cut in half and filled to the brim with soil, and buried in each was a small sprout. The one in the milk carton was budding, revealing small, white flowers. Simon smiled and picked the carton up in his hands, bringing it up to his face to inspect the small buds. It was a _Convallaria majalis_ , a ‘Lily of the Valley’. The other, although it hadn’t begun to bud, was a _Symphyotrichum laeve_ , a smooth aster. When the flowers began to grow, their petals would be a soft lavender.

“I’m sorry they aren’t in pots, this was the best we could…” Josh trailed off as Simon flung his arms around him and brought his companion into a warm hug, his body still radiating heat from sitting in the sunlight. Josh laughed for a moment before wrapping his arms around Simon in return, his head on the shorter android’s shoulder. “I guess you like them.”

“Thank you,” Simon said, still smiling. “This is so nice of you.”

“It was all Markus’ idea, really,” Josh replied as they separated. Simon picked up one of the plants in each hand and brought them under the patch of sunlight. He could practically feel his processors whirr in delight in response to the gift, and the fact that it was Markus who decided to do this for him made it even better, somehow. More flattering.

“Where is Markus?” Simon asked.

“Oh, he’s talking to everyone downstairs,” Josh liked to call the lower levels ‘downstairs’, like they were all living in a house, like a large family, instead of a decaying abandoned freighter. “He’s cooking up another plan. It’s pretty great to have someone who’s finally trying to make things change with the humans.”

Simon winced a little. He knew Josh didn’t mean that in an offensive way towards him, but he couldn’t help but take it to heart. He was never cut out to be a leader, and Markus’ arrival, no matter how positive it had shown to be, had brought that fact home for Simon. He just had to be positive – Markus was capable of doing something great, and he should be there to support that.

“So, I take it you like flowers?” Josh asked. Simon laughed a little, playing with a loose thread on his sweatshirt. 

“Yeah, I always thought there was something nice about them, but I don’t know the first thing about growing them,” Simon admitted. “I guess I’ll just have to try and keep these ones alive.”

“I’m sure there’s someone in Jericho who can help,” said Josh helpfully. Simon tried not to shudder at the thought of asking one of the other androids for help – how selfish would that look on his part? He’d barely tried to make himself known to them all and had simply been a cold figure to them, saying no and no again. It would be incredibly insensitive.

“Should we go join the others now?” Simon suggested, hoping that his subject change was subtle enough for Josh to ignore. Thankfully, he did, nodding in agreement and pulling himself up with lanky arms. Simon followed suit and dusted himself up before following Josh out into the corridor.

When Simon had first gotten to Jericho, the ship’s layout had seemed far too confusing and maze-like for his GPS to handle, but now everything made a lot more sense to him. It was hard to explain how he found his way around, but it was almost instinctual, ingrained into his system like any other program.

They got to the chamber quicker than Simon expected – Josh’s strides were longer than his and Simon had to adjust to keep pace. The chamber was lit with orange firelight, a barrel aflame off to the left side. Everyone was clustered in small groups, talking amongst themselves. Markus and North were in the centre, but as soon as Markus heard the door creak open, his head shot up to meet Simon’s eyes. Markus grinned and Simon’s thirium pump felt like it plummeted so quickly that he wouldn’t have been surprised if it appeared on the floor.

He really needed to figure out what that feeling meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again everybody!
> 
> this story will be updating a lot less liberally than its predecessor, unfortunately (probably around once a week). hope you all enjoy nonetheless.
> 
> my tumblr, where i post my art, is [here.](http://icemarkers.tumblr.com/tagged/my%20art)


	2. Drown Me in Nothing But Thoughts

“So, did you like the flowers?” Markus asked, turning back with a grin that Simon could almost describe as coquettish if he didn’t know any better. The rain pattered around them as they stood in a small bay where the dumpsters were kept on the side of the parking lot across from the Stratford Tower – a broadcasting tower for a television channel. A raindrop slid its way down the bridge of Markus’ nose and Simon smiled, watching it roll off the curve of the other android’s lips.

“I did,” Simon replied. “It was very thoughtful of you. But maybe we should talk about that later.” Markus nodded thoughtfully and looked away, sticking his tongue through his teeth as he worked something out in his head. Simon tried not to look too worried.

The way Markus had described it, the mission was definitely not going to be simple.

The Stratford Tower was a broadcasting tower for Channel 16, constantly crawling with personnel, except, after observation, from 10 PM to 6AM on weekdays – the weekend schedule was much more sporadic and didn’t seem to be set in stone. There were no human security guards, although there were two androids that patrolled the building when it was empty. The entire tower was under a complicated surveillance system which the androids were connected to. Trash collection occurred at 4 PM on Tuesday afternoons in which two androids were allowed into the side of the building through a ‘Staff Only’ entrance.

The first detail that needed to be cemented to bring their plan into action was to get someone from their ranks inside the building to plant a maintenance uniform for Markus to pick up later and to determine the front desk situation (what Markus would have to do to gain access to the elevators). The only times that people other than staff were brought inside the building were the trash collectors on Tuesdays and random visits from a human and android duo that acted as maintenance men, but the maintenance men took the service elevator and never passed the front desk. The trash collectors, however, were lead down a corridor to the left of the front desk that opened up to a second dumpster bay after the one Markus and Simon were in currently. There was a ventilation system throughout the building that had a maintenance shaft connected to it that could also be accessed via the second dumpster bay.

So, the first step of the mission was entirely going to be Simon’s responsibility – he was going to be the one to enter the tower. Markus, of course, had desperately insisted that it should be him, but his appearance was far too different from the WR-600 trash collectors that it would appear suspicious and be too much of a risk so early on in their plan. Simon was blond and of a similar height and build to the WR-600 models, and if he was in uniform no-one would really look twice, so he was their best bet. He pulled his backpack’s straps in a nervous movement. Inside it was the uniform he’d need to plant for Markus.

“They’re coming now,” Markus hissed, grabbing Simon’s arm and pulling him flat against the wall of the bay. Simon peeked out from behind the wall and saw them – two androids descending from a garbage truck and making their way towards the dumpster bay. Simon couldn’t lie, he was honestly a little scared about having such a large responsibility so soon in the mission. Markus’ hand finally released its grip on his arm and Simon looked back at him.

“So, what do we do?” Simon whispered.

“I’ll grab one, you grab the other. Make sure to cover the mouth.” Simon nodded and looked back at the approaching androids. They weren’t at all bothered by the rain, the droplets making the material of their uniforms appear slick and shiny. A tell-tale difference between an android and a human, one that took a little more observation to notice, was the way rain looked on their skin. Android skin has no real texture to it, it’s just smooth plastic, so rain just rolls down it in smooth strokes. Human skin is incredibly textured, covered in tiny hairs and small folds and grooves, and the rain gets partially absorbed and takes much longer to travel than on an android. No matter how much you try to imitate it, nothing manufactured could have the same amount of detail as natural organisms like humans.

“Three,” Markus began to count down as the androids were about to round the corner. “Two, one!”

Simon moved quicker than he thought he could and wrapped his arms around one of the surprised androids, one hand over its mouth and nose and the other restricting its upper body movements, pushing it against the wall. Its LED went red and its eyes were filled with alarm, but it didn’t try to fight against Simon. Simon saw the blue glow out of the corner of his eye and turned to Markus, watching with astonishment as his friend deactivated the skin on his hand and grabbed the shoulder of his restricted WR-600. The android relaxed in Markus’ arms and Markus let go before turning to Simon and repeating the process on the other trash collector.

Simon let go and watched, wide eyed as the one he had been holding down began to remove its uniform, passing each article of clothing to Simon. He snorted, but accepted the clothing, and turned his gaze to Markus.

“You told him to strip?” Simon joked. Markus smiled, and Simon felt a little warmer.

“One must do strange things to further a revolution,” he replied in a mock serious tone, tilting his head. “Well? Are you going to change?”

Simon felt thirium rush to his cheeks and looked down at the pile of clothing in his arms. The WR-600, now only in his undergarments, folded his arms over himself and didn’t seem all too bothered about the situation. Simon made a gesture for Markus to turn around and was relieved that he complied – he was made to teach manners to children, and he wasn’t going to abandon that protocol, even for Markus.

He discovered that it was a rather uncomfortable experience, getting dressed in the rain. He tied his necklace around his wrist instead of around his neck, underneath the fold of the gloves so that he would still be able to touch the charms if he needed to calm down. He turned to Markus when he was done, who gave him a nod to signal that the uniform was completely in place. Everything was slick and stuck to his skin, and it made a gross, squelching sound when he moved. It felt like he was living in a water pouch. 

He opened his backpack, making to shove his clothes in, but looked back up at the WR-600 who looked more than a little odd almost completely naked, so Simon held the clothes out to him instead. The android just blinked at him, and Simon huffed.

“Take it,” Simon said, sounding a little choked up. He blinked at him again, with familiar hazel eyes, before accepting the clothing. There were cold shivers spreading through his suddenly aching body, and it wasn’t from the rain. 

“Thank you…” The WR-600 murmured, the tone of his voice so indescribably horrible to hear that it was almost like Simon’s imitation lungs could no longer expand. He never thought he’d understand the human, imperfect feeling of loss, and it wasn’t like he’d lost his lover, but it felt so wrong to see someone that was Warren in every way, but was not. Warren was his friend, and so was Ronan. Along with Romeno, they served to be horrible reminders that this world was cruel and not afraid to take. Simon closed his eyes and tried to steel himself.

Markus’ worried gaze just made Simon want to bury himself in soil and drown in the earth.

“We should go,” The other WR-600 said to Simon. “They’ll be wondering what’s taking us so long.”

“You can come with me to scope out the rest of the tower,” Markus said to the android who was now decked out in a Detroit University sweatshirt that fit him much better than it had Simon. He nodded, and seemed a little anxious, but excited to start. Markus turned his attention back to Simon and stepped forward towards him.

“We’ll be back in an hour. Good luck,” he murmured, putting a hand on Simon’s shoulder in an expression of familiarity and well wishes. Simon could feel the touch zinging through his receptors like a small electric shock. The smile on Markus’ face was so sincere that Simon had to smile too. 

“Alright,” Simon replied, gripping Markus’ hand in both of his own. “I’ll see you.”

Markus grinned. “You better,” he said, before disappearing into the curtains of spiralling water that glistened on his skin like small jewels. Simon was right, he was going to be a part of something bigger, something that would change everyone.

He wouldn’t want it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case you didn't notice, i like wr600's. i'm surprised at myself that i didn't manage to fit a ralph appearance in the plans for this story somehow.
> 
> hope you're all having a lovely day/night.


	3. Dark, Dark, and Dark Again

Simon tried not to look too nervous when two JB-300’s opened the ‘Staff Only’ door and looked him and the WR-600 up and down. He pulled the brim of the cap (thank RA9 this uniform variation had one) further down his forehead and stared straight ahead, hoping he looked as blank as possible. But then again, these androids didn’t care what his facial expression was, they could scan him in the blink of an eye and find out he was an imposter if they were suspicious enough. He just had to act normal.

“Why are you late? It’s quarter-past four,” One of the androids asked. Luckily, the question was directed at Simon’s accomplice, which gave Simon more time to look unassuming.

“There were some issues with the garbage truck. It’s been fixed now.” The JB-300’s seem to accept this and stepped aside to allow Simon and his companion inside. Simon tried not to widen his eyes at the décor of the tower’s lobby. It had a yellow and black motif and was covered in asymmetric, glossy patterns that made the walls seem to rise impossibly high to connect with the reflective ceiling. There were small lounges set about for the visitors to sit in and a long, clean reception desk that spanned almost the entire length of the back wall, save for a corridor on the left and an entrance to the elevators on the right. Seated, or rather, one seated, two standing, was a human supervisor off to the side and two female receptionist androids. Apart from the supervisor, there were no other human staff present in the lobby. The WR-600 touched his arm and roused Simon out of his thoughts. 

“Come on, we need to move,” He prompted, gesturing to the corridor on the left side of the reception desk. The JB-300’s were already disappearing around the corner. 

“So, do you have a name?” Simon whispered to the other android a little awkwardly. The other blond huffed a laugh behind a gloved hand, undoubtedly at Simon’s oddly phrased question, as he lead the way down the corridor.

“Yeah, it’s Bailey,” He responded. “Not like anyone ever uses it, though.”

The human supervisor, a dark-haired woman, looked up at Simon and Bailey with a raised eyebrow after hearing their conversation. Simon looked away as quickly as possible and stared straight ahead, his LED flashing red for a moment. Fuck. 

The woman didn’t say anything to them, thankfully, and Simon cursed himself under his breath before following Bailey around the corner. The corridor ended with two yellow doors, one labelled ‘Staff Only’ and the other unlabelled and much wider. Bailey pushed open the unlabelled door to reveal the internal dumpster bay. Across from the two dumpsters up against the wall was a ventilation shaft, just big enough for a person to crawl inside. Simon took his backpack off and set it on the ground.

“I’ll stay here and empty the dumpsters,” Bailey said, opening the lid of the first dumpster. “It’ll take me about twenty minutes. You need to be done and back by then.”

Simon nodded nervously, pulling a screwdriver out from his backpack and turning to the vent. The grate of the vent had three screws on each of the four sides, but it didn’t take long to unscrew them. He was lucky that the group had managed to procure a floorplan of the tower that made the men’s bathroom easy to locate – it would have been impossible for him to get this done in twenty minutes if he had no idea where he was going. 

When the last screw came undone, Simon pulled the grate off to reveal the ventilation cavity and took a deep breath before grabbing his backpack. He put in on backwards, over his front, so it would fit with him in the vent, before climbing inside.

“Good luck,” Bailey called after him as he descended into the darkness of the ventilation shaft. The metal of the shaft was smooth underneath Simon’s hands and made a hollow noise whenever his palms or his knees took the weight of his body, making his thirium pump beat faster every time. As his range of vision became shorter and shorter from the lack of light, he couldn’t help but become a little afraid. It was unlikely that this shaft was made to withstand the weight of someone inside it; as far as Simon knew he could be a movement away from falling through the thin surface of metal.

His GPS pinged him about eight minutes away from the men’s bathroom at this pace, with seventeen minutes remaining before Bailey would be expecting him. Simon sped his pace up as much as he could without making too much noise and let out a relieved sigh when the time decreased to seven minutes. Suddenly, his hands felt emptiness and he had to jerk himself back to prevent his body from toppling forward into the darkness below, swallowing a yelp of surprise. He was helpfully informed that his stress level had raised to 62%, red text flashing in the corner of his vision. He let out a shaky breath and watched it lower to 60%.

Simon felt around the cavity that opened up before him and realised that the vent just took a turn downwards to another horizontal stretch. With his synthetic lungs working overtime to battle against his stress level and to cool down his inner mechanisms, he reached out with one hand as far as he could into the darkness and tried not to swear when his fingers met nothing but air. He would have to let himself fall down onto the lower stretch of the shaft. He closed his eyes tightly and let himself topple over the edge, his palms and knees hitting the metal with a loud clang. All of his breath that he had been trying so hard to regulate was knocked out of him on impact, and he winced in reaction to the noise.

He stayed still for a moment, eyes wide in the darkness, but didn’t hear any movement from outside of the shaft in response to the noise, so he began to move again, pulling his body forward through the enclosed space. Simon’s shoulders brushed the sides of the vent, here, but he tried not to think about how disastrous it would be to get stuck. Simon’s stress level was now 72%, and he was three minutes away from the men’s bathroom with nine minutes remaining for the return trip.

When Simon’s hands hit a dead end of metal, he felt his inner mechanisms jam in shock and confusion. He felt around, but it was completely blocked off. 

“What the fuck?” Simon whispered to himself, panic rising in his chest. He put his hand out as far as it could go and realised that there was empty space all around his head. The shaft continued upward. 

Simon worried his lip between his teeth in an expression of his anxiety as he pulled himself up into the tight, empty space, locking his legs out in front of him with his feet flat against the side of the shaft. The bag was cumbersome, and made his movements slightly stilted, but he still managed to push himself up the vertical stretch, up and up.

When he finally reached the top of the vertical stretch, Simon almost lost his grip and plummeted all the way back down. The shaft continued behind his head. He twisted himself around in the shaft and pushed himself up into the next part of the shaft, back on all fours.

Finally, the vent opened up into white panelling underneath him, and Simon pushed against a panel until it gave. Light flooded in, and Simon almost wept as his surroundings became clear. The panelling gave way to a toilet cubicle. The relief he felt was unparalleled as he moved the panel back into place and unzipped his backpack, pulling out the uniform box and placing it on top of the panel.

He took a moment to sit back on his haunches and take a couple, deep breaths, before zipping the backpack back up and descending into the darkness yet again.

Stress level, 76%. Eight minutes remaining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you're all having a good day/night <3


	4. How Brilliant You Are

Simon screwed his eyes shut as Markus took his face in his hands and turned it to expose his LED. He held the screwdriver Simon had used at the tower in his left hand and supported the other android’s head with his right. There was no movement for a moment, and Simon opened his eyes again and watched as Markus’ tongue poked out between his lips as he thought, an oddly childlike expression.

“This’ll only take a second,” Markus murmured, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration as he moved the screwdriver to the edge of Simon’s LED, pressing it into his skin. Simon closed his eyes again as an odd sensation, similar to a tingling, spread out underneath his skin as Markus hooked the screwdriver underneath the edge of the circular light and levered it up. The tingling turned into burning and then nothing as the LED fell into Markus’ hand with a clink. Simon opened his eyes and met Markus’, who was smiling at him in a way he’d never seen Markus smile before. Soft, and warm, like a trickle of sunlight.

“Thank you, Markus,” Simon said, taking the thin, now dull object out of the other android’s hand and bringing it up close to his eye to inspect it. He felt a rush of emotions that he couldn’t quite describe now that this identifier wasn’t apart of him anymore. It was good, but also daunting, but so was everything lately. He could feel his skin pulsing, healing over the empty space Markus had created.

“You don’t have to thank me,” Markus replied simply, leaning against a CyberLife crate and crossing his arms. Simon sat down on the bottom step of the stairs a few metres away from the collection of crates. There was silence for a moment, and Simon felt his processor whirring in desperation to decipher the inexplainable feeling almost tangible in the air between the two androids. It was thick, like steam, and it made it almost hard for Simon to draw in breaths. Markus was watching him, catlike eyes barely blinking, and Simon tried not to squirm.

“You were really brave yesterday, at the tower,” Markus finally said, his expression softening. He said it like it was something reverent to climb through a ventilation pipe, practically blind and on the verge of crying. Simon rolled his hands up in the soft, fleecy underside of his sweatshirt to stop them from shaking. They had been doing that recently – he really needed to figure out what that was stemming from. He was incredibly happy, however, to have returned into his usual clothes after arriving back at Jericho with Markus and the two WR-600’s.

“It wasn’t very glamourous, that’s for sure,” Simon laughed quietly. Markus looked up at him, and for a moment he looked so tired. Markus’ model was unique, one of a kind, and it wasn’t hard for Simon to say that he was attractive, in human standards. Simon could bet that he didn’t look much better, his model’s face was made only with kindness and openness in mind. The signature PL-600 blue eyes were so expressive and wide, it was quite an easy task to tell what Simon was feeling, with or without an LED. It was obvious that it was a design choice to make children more comfortable around him, but it just made Simon feel less in control. He couldn’t hide what he was feeling, and he wasn’t even meant to feel anything at all.

“You should be proud of yourself, Simon.” Markus’ eyebrows drew close together, in a raw, considerate expression. His tone of voice was soft, like he was talking to a child. It made Simon want to scowl, even though he knew Markus wasn’t trying to patronise him. Simon sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.

“I’ve never been proud of anything I’ve done,” Simon said, the alarming sentence escaping his program before he even had time to process it. It was true, though. He’d never felt proud, not really. He had been feeling for months now, and yet he still wasn’t used to it at all. Markus looked at him, concern heavy in his mismatched eyes. “Don’t look at me like that.” The laugh he produced felt forced.

“I’ve never met someone like you,” Markus remarked contemplatively, tilting his head to the side so it would rest in his palm. Simon took a moment to admire the other android’s hands. Simon couldn’t explain it, but they looked like the hands of someone who would lead a revolution. The perfect, square nails on top of ‘imperfect’, freckled skin. They were big, too, with large, flat palms. Despite that, his fingers tapered off into delicate curves. Simon tried not to think about pressing his lips to Markus’ smooth knuckles for too long. “You just won’t accept how brilliant you are.”

Simon let the sentence hang in the air for a while. Markus’ gaze was almost a challenge, now. His throat felt dry even though he didn’t need to swallow.

“I’m not brilliant,” His voice came out strange and breathy. “You’re insane.”

Markus pushed himself off of the crate and took a step closer to Simon. “You’ve done a lot for a lot of people. All of the androids here look up to you more than anyone. You’ve helped to bring them here and give them a safe place. You _saved_ them.”

“I didn’t _start_ Jericho.” Markus continued to move closer.

“It doesn’t matter. You kept it around. You made it more accessible for the people that needed it.” Strangely, Simon felt a wave of sadness through his chest. Markus took one of Simon’s hands in his, holding it by the wrist. His long fingers nearly wrapped around Simon’s skinny wrist twice.

“What are you trying to do, Markus?” This time, Simon’s voice was a whisper. Markus was so close now that Simon was sure he could feel his breath. Markus tilted his head and smiled softly.

“You have beautiful eyes. They’re so expressive.”

Yes, this time Simon was sure he could feel Markus’ breath on his face. If he paid enough attention, he could feel the minute movements of the other android’s eyelashes as he blinked. A wave of panic hit Simon like a freight train and he screwed his eyes shut, pulling out of Markus’ grasp and standing up straight. Markus took a step back in surprise, his eyebrows furrowing as he struggled to say something.

Simon let out a dry laugh and forced himself to walk towards the door on the other side of the chamber. “I’m going to go,” he announced, his voice oddly hoarse despite not being able to have a dry throat. “I’ll see you later.”

“Bye, Simon,” Markus whispered confusedly to the empty space the other android was standing in moments before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so sorry about the wait on this chapter! i've been very busy with assignments and have recently gotten a job, so i don't have much spare time. hopefully you guys like this anyway.


	5. Androids Don't Die

For Simon, it was just as hard approaching Stratford Tower the second time as it was the first. 

Some of the anxiousness left when the group was safely inside in the building, but there was something foreboding about the silence that now enveloped them as they hid in the indoor dumpster bay. Markus had gone in through the front entrance, to not rouse too much suspicion, but Simon, North, Josh and Bailey had all gone in through the side entrance. 

Simon was biting his lip so hard that the skin was failing. Josh was looking at him with concern etched in his kind eyes. North was up ahead of her companions, her brow furrowed as she surveyed the dumpster bay and the locked service elevator. Bailey, his hair now chestnut brown and curling around his ears under his uniform cap, stood crouched next to the door of the dumpster bay. His hand was skinless, revealing the clean white plastic underneath as he interfaced with the door. Despite his lack of an LED, it was easy to tell that he was in some sort of pain by the way his face was contorted.

“Bailey, are you okay?” Simon asked tentatively. Bailey sighed, his face relaxing as he removed his hand from the door, his expression changing into one of frustration.

“WR-600’s don’t have very high capabilities with things like this. We’re gardeners, public servants,” Bailey explained, his eyes darkening. “The humans decided to take those functions away from us, so we can do only what they want us to. It makes me sick.”

“Here, I’ll help,” Simon offered, the skin of his hand transforming into shades of white as he pressed his palm against the smooth metal door. A flood of data filled his vision as his processors organised the code into recognisable chunks – the different display options of the sign on the other side of the door. Currently, he could see that it displayed the text ‘Staff Only’, but it only took him a moment to change it into ‘Off Limits – Maintenance in Progress’. 

“So, what’s the plan, North?” Josh asked. North, despite Josh and Simon’s frequent offers, and sometimes pleas of assistance, was carrying a large black duffel bag over one shoulder, which she dropped to the floor and crouched next to.

“I’m going to give you all guns,” North said first, unzipping a pocket of the bag to reveal five handguns, their matte surfaces glinting under the tinny lighting of the room. “I’m not saying we’re going to use them, but I’d much rather be armed than not.”

When Simon’s fingers closed around the gun, he tried not to look at it with too much disgust. He wasn’t going to lie, there was a part of him that was intrigued by guns. A weapon of so much death and upset that was so easy to use and obtain. Its weight was satisfying as he turned it over in his hands to inspect it. He clicked the safety off and back on again a few times before tucking it securely into his belt loops and straightening his Stratford uniform shirt over the top of it to conceal it.

Josh’s face clouded with something synonymous with hatred as he stared at what North offered him, but he still took the gun. Simon could empathise with Josh on a certain level about that; just because he wanted freedom and was willing to fight for it didn’t mean he wanted to be a murderer.

“Bailey, you’re going to stay down here and keep watch. If police are coming after us, I expect you to let us know,” North continued. “When we’re all done, I’ll give you a cue to leave. If you don’t hear anything after an hour, max, you leave without meeting up with us.”

“I’m sure it won’t come to that.”

“But you never know.”

Bailey’s cold blue eyes stared into North’s unflinching brown ones for a moment, and then he let out a long-suffering sigh. Even though Bailey had had but a day at Jericho, the look in his eyes was always filled with wisdom and knowledge that Simon felt he couldn’t even dream of understanding. What had he been through?

“Fine,” Bailey relented. “Don’t die.”

North grinned. “We’re androids. We don’t die.”

“Sorry, technicality police,” Bailey said lazily, rolling his eyes. “Don’t _deactivate_.”

“I’m going to go in first,” Simon said quietly. North and Josh turned to look at him. “Right?”

“Are you sure?” Josh asked, pulling the duffel bag over his shoulder before North had a chance to grab it. Simon felt a pang of what he could only describe as distaste at the sight of the concern in Josh’s eyes. “I mean, are you comfortable with that?”

“Don’t treat me like a child,” Simon snapped, his face contorting. Josh’s eyes widened. “I’ve done it before. It’s only logical I go in first.”

“Have at it, Si,” North laughed drily, gesturing towards the ventilation shaft. Josh just stood quietly, his expression more thoughtful than before. 

“Alright,” Simon said finally, climbing on top of the dumpster. Josh handed him a screwdriver and Simon began unscrewing the ventilation shaft’s cover. When it came loose, he handed it to North and began to climb inside the darkness once again. Simon felt significantly calmer than he did the first time here – whether it was because he had company, or because he wasn’t completely aware of how hard this journey would likely become later, he didn’t know.

Josh came in after him with the duffel bag, making a few loud bangs as he got used to how to move inside the shaft. North came in last, pulling the cover to the vent in place behind her, turning the light into stripes across her face.

“Good luck,” Bailey called again, just like the first time. Simon hoped the phrase really did mean something – good luck was something they would certainly need.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after an incredibly long hiatus, i've decided i'd like to continue writing this story. i'm not sure how much interest there still is for dbh, but i really enjoyed writing it and it was bugging me i never finished it. this is more for me than anyone else now.
> 
> if you are still reading, enjoy.


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